'She Was Looking Right At Me'; Barber Recalls Frightening Moments Before Disgruntled Mother Ran Him Over
WALNUT CREEK (CBS SF) -- Antioch barber Brian Martin was recovering Friday after undergoing surgery for severe leg injuries suffered when a mother allegedly disgruntled over her young son's haircut ran him over with her car.
The woman -- identified by Antioch police as 28-year-old Ruby Delgadillo of Brentwood -- remained at large Friday morning after fleeing the scene with her two sons and was the subject of a Bay Area-wide search.
Martin -- who underwent surgery to repair his badly injured leg -- told KPIX 5 he wanted the public outcry focused on the woman to calm down and to let police do their job.
But in a phone interview from his hospital bed, Martin said he was still trying to grapple with what happened in front of his Delta Barber Shop on Wednesday afternoon.
"I'm recovering, I'm in a little bit of pain," he said. "The surgery went well and I'm extremely optimistic."
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Martin recalled that Delgadillo had brought her 7-year-old son in for a haircut. The boy squirmed, which resulted in a small knick on the child's neck. Martin said the boy's mother was pleasant and didn't notice it until she got home.
"She was happy with it, but she wasn't happy that I tried to calm him down when he was squirming in the chair," he told KPIX 5. "And so she came back and showed me this little scratch and I said -- 'What can I do about that? There's nothing I can do.' It didn't bleed or anything like that, it was a tiny scratch...I just couldn't deescalate it."
Martin's business partner Dustin Souders told KPIX 5 that Delgadillo left the shop after the confrontation.
"She left, went outside, came back and tried to kick the door in," he said. "Brian left to take a picture of the car because of the incident. And that's when she backed her car into the street, hit the gas and ran him through the store next door."
Martin said moments before he was struck, he made eye contact with Delgadillo.
"She was looking right at me," he told KPIX 5. "She put that Prius in go. She had one hand on the wheel, one flipping me off and screaming. She held that steering wheel and she aimed right for me. She looked at me and pushed me through the building."
Martin said there's no doubt in his mind she was trying to run him over.
"I could see her face," he said. "She did run me over, she did until the wall stopped her. And then she backed out and drove off."
Souders believes a beam at the corner of the shop stopped the car's forward momentum and may have saved his business partner's life.
Investigators described Delgadillo's car as a blue 2006 Toyota Prius with California license plate No. 8LHB387. Anyone with information about Delgadillo's whereabouts can contact police at 925-778-2441.
